The United States officially have their backs to the wall in this Copa América. Indeed, despite a validated start against Bolivia (2-0), the Americans fell against Panama (2-1) during the second day of Group C. The Marea Roja was able to react to Folarin Balogun’s opening goal in the wake of César Blackman, before José Fajardo offered victory to his team. With this defeat, the American selection trained by Gregg Berhalter will have no choice but to beat Uruguay tomorrow night, on the pitch of Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, to advance to the quarter-finals of the competition. Especially since the Americans are the host country of this competition and are even preparing to host the 2026 World Cup. With an MLS supposedly in sporting and economic development, the United States would suffer another disappointment in recent years. Everything is not over yet, but the Americans must react tonight and the task looks very complicated.
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The United States still sits second in Group C heading into the final matchday, but the loss and the hope that Panama can beat a Bolivian team that hasn’t won away in nearly a decade means the Americans may not make it out of the group on home soil in their only major tournament before the 2026 World Cup. “The pressure you are referring to has always been there. Again, there can’t be more outside pressure than what we put on ourselves as a staff and as players and how we want to play, and we want to do a good job. External things we cannot control. All I can control is how we prepare the team to play with confidence and put in a good performance, and that’s really what I’m focusing on right now.”explained coach Gregg Berhalter at a press conference. But despite this communication necessary to calm the burning fire of a spreading fire, the truth that the Americans are showing a very worrying record before the 2026 World Cup, of which they are one of the three host countries alongside their Canadian and Mexican neighbors.
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A match for their survival
To avoid a national tragedy, the Americans must beat Uruguay on Monday to qualify for the quarter-finals: “They do several things, but they are really a very high-level team. The intensity with which they play, the speed, the way they maintain the intensity throughout the game is on a different level. The physical data is superior to other teams in this tournament. And then the second thing is the counterattack, the transitions. They recover the ball and start immediately behind the back line, and that is something we have to be prepared for.”, analyzed the American coach about Uruguay. Note that Celeste will have to do without Marcelo Bielsa for this meeting. Loco is suspended due to his team’s arrival on the field too late at the start of the second half during their victory (5-0) against Bolivia on Thursday. The regulations of the Copa América specify that “Teams must strictly adhere to the schedule set for the start of the match” and “the coach of the team concerned will in all cases be held responsible” offenses.
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After the defeat (2-1) against Panama, the United States might not even qualify despite a victory against Uruguay. If Panama were to beat Bolivia while making up the goal difference on the Americans, then it would be Berhalter’s players who would finish on the 3rd step of the group, synonymous with elimination: “I think we need to play the game really hard. I know we have a good enough team to do it, we put in a really good performance. That means coming out with intensity from the start, not letting emotions get the better of you, but sticking to your game plan and having confidence that we have a good enough team and that at the end of the 90 minutes we can score a goal and go forward to win the game. So I think we just need a really good performance. We need to play the best game of our lives, that would be great, but it doesn’t happen often.”said the team’s best player and captain, Christian Pulisic.
Beyond the purely factual aspect of the results and the ranking, the United States is also going through some internal clashes. The bloody blow of Timothy Weah, who slapped an opponent against Panama leaving his team at ten, left its mark, while his coach had clearly pointed the finger at him publicly at a press conference, indicating him as being the main culprit of the American setback. The physical condition of American goalkeeper Matt Turner remains uncertain after he left Thursday’s match at halftime with a leg injury. But Pulisic wants to keep hope: “I would just say that our goal as a collective is to go out and win the game because that’s our team goal. That’s not what we think about. So for us, we’re all here, we’re all hungry, we want to win and we want to continue in this tournament and that’s what motivates us to go tomorrow.”concluded the AC Milan striker. After a defeat in the semi-final of the last Gold Cup, already against Panama, the United States has a lot at stake tonight.
Pub. and 01/07/2024 5:03 PM MAJ and 01/07/2024 6:00 PM
2024-07-01 15:03:36
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